Caged dog found burned to death in West Brandywine

WEST BRANDYWINE — Firefighters discovered a caged dog burned to death Friday night in a wooded area along Route 82.

Wagontown Fire Chief Todd Ziegler was driving along the roadway at around 8 p.m. when he happened to notice what he thought was a brush fire on the side of the road. Ziegler notified fire crews who made a grisly discovery as they extinguished the blaze.

Ziegler recalled approaching the scene with another firefighter and said “something wasn’t right, and we requested the police department to step it up and get over here.”

Ziegler said police performed a quick search of the area to make sure no one was around as firefighters confirmed that a caged animal had been killed in the fire.

A dog, which officials described as a medium-sized pit bull-type breed, was found caged and burning about 50 feet from the roadway along a gravel drive. Fire crews then notified the Animal Protection Services officers from the Chester County SPCA and the Chester County Fire Marshall’s to investigate the incident.

The dog’s charred remains will be transported to the New Bolton Center for a necropsy on Saturday morning, officials said.

The incident is the second time in less than four months that a dog has been found burned within a several mile radius in Chester County. Craig Baxter, an Animal Protection Services officer with the SPCA who investigated the scene Friday, expressed his reaction as he received another call involving a burned animal.